Reaper

Hell on earth

Vicious black tentacles emerged from the demon’s back, with which he grabbed the shivering body of the frail old priest. The old man squirmed and cried for help, knowing full well that no one would come to his aid at that uncertain hour. As the tentacles began twisting around his body, it became difficult to breathe. Leraje always took great pleasure in tormenting his victims before killing them and so he began tightening his grip.

“Where is your God now, Father?” he chuckled.

“Leraje! It seems you’ve forgotten your lesson!” A shrill female voice cried out from behind.

As Leraje turned around, a flood of white light washed away the darkness inside the room. Levitating above the altar was an angel clothed in a halo of bright light. Her blonde locks fell around her shoulders in winding loops and her eyes shone with the brilliance of the summer sun.

The demon immediately dropped the Reverend and shifted his attention towards the female angel. At once, he reverted back to his charming human form and clothed himself once more in his green suit and tie.

“It’s been such a long time, Melaleh. I thought you’d forgotten me,” he replied with a wry smile.

Melaleh conjured her angelic weapons, one in each hand. The Seraphim Sword materialized in her right hand, while the Spear of Stars appeared in her left.

Leraje’s eyes turned fiery red and he flicked open his right palm. With his demonic powers, he conjured forth a hail of black arrows and rained them down on Melaleh.

She was undeterred by his attack and held her ground. Spinning her spear rapidly in front of her, she deflected all the arrows with ease and they landed all around her, embedding their iron tips in the woodwork.

“Levare Oreste!” Melaleh pointed her sword at Leraje and cast a shockwave which pushed the demon across the room and pinned him to the doors of the church. She teleported directly to him and held the sword to his throat. “Now tell me Leraje. Why are you here?”

“I think you know that already,” he grumbled.

“Don’t play games with me!” she threatened, thrusting her sword into his demonic flesh.

“I am here to break the Seal of Kings and free the demon kings of hell. Soon my brothers will walk upon this earth and unleash the horrors of hell on God’s favorite creation. Our time has come now and not even you can stop us!”

“I will drain you of all your powers and send you back to the darkest pits of hell once more. You should not have set foot inside the house of God, Leraje.”

“You are a fool Melaleh! I am not going back!” Leraje transformed back to his demonic form and let out a deafening scream which shattered the stained glass windows of the church. Melaleh became disoriented for just a second and dropped to her knees. And that was enough for Leraje to escape from her hold. He turned into a cloud of black sand and fled through a shattered window.

Father John had fainted from the ordeal but he was still alive due to Melaleh’s timely intervention. She knew letting Leraje escape would turn out to be a costly mistake, but at least she had found out about their plans. If the demon kings were planning to escape from hell, she had to seek the help of an Archangel.

Back at Ryder’s residence, he and Vanessa were discussing about the wendigo attack and David was still fast asleep in the nursing room.

The unexpected attack wasn’t a mere coincidence and had it not been for Vanessa’s quick reaction, David would have been devoured alive by the monster. They understood full well that the balance had been tipped and it was only a matter of time before monsters started venturing into the city.

Ryder opened a bottle of premium bourbon and poured a generous finger into each of the three glasses on the center table. Handing one of the glasses to Vanessa, he picked another and settled himself into the black leather couch.

“Dark times are ahead. That wendigo attack appears to be more disturbing the more I dwell on the circumstances.” Ryder took a sip of the orange brown liquor and reclined back into the warmth of the couch. “Wendigos don’t leave their forests, and even when they do, they never venture into the territory of ghouls. The odds of encountering both these monsters on the same day have always been miniscule. How far was the nearest human settlement from the graveyard?”

“About 2 miles,” Vanessa replied.

“An adult wendigo prowling that close to a human settlement is quite horrifying news. You must track it down and put it out of its misery, Ms. Chase.”

“I am going to search the adjoining woods tomorrow morning. Perhaps, it would be best not to mention anything to David.”

“I am afraid he has already found out.”

“What?” she asked puzzled.

Ryder took another sip and exclaimed aloud, “Come in Mr. David. No need to be shy.”

Vanessa turned her eyes towards the door as it parted slightly at first and then was thrown wide ajar. David, who had been silently eavesdropping, quietly entered the room.

“Please have a seat.” Ryder motioned towards one of the chairs. “Care to join us for a drink?” he asked, offering him the third bourbon glass.

“I do not drink.”

“Fair enough. We all have our preferences.” He poured its contents into his own glass and pulled back into his seat.

“I want to join the hunt,”  David said.

Ryder kept sipping the smooth liquor, hardly paying any heed to his demand. Vanessa however, seemed greatly annoyed.

“You are not going anywhere. If I hadn’t scared the wendigo away, you would have been eaten alive,” she replied with a frown.

“This is who I am now and if people’s lives are at risk, I am not just going to sit here and wait.”

“You don’t even know what a wendigo is!”

“Then teach me! If what Mr. Ryder says is true, the whole world is in danger. We have to put an end to this. I know you can handle yourself but it’s not just about you. This is about me. Sooner or later I will have to learn how to fight these creatures.” David shifted his gaze from her to Ryder.  “Please let me go. I can help track down the wendigo.”

Ryder finished his drink and cleared his throat. Wiping his face clean, he nodded his head. “You are right; you will need to face what’s out there someday. When the time comes you may even have to confront a greater demon. If you are to hunt this wendigo, you need to know what a wendigo is.” He furrowed his brows and rose from his seat.

Vanessa wanted to object but she held herself back. She too knew that David had to embrace his fate one day.

Clearing his throat, Ryder folded his hands behind his back and began divulging the true origin of the wendigo.

“A wendigo is an unforgiving monster. Its ravenous hunger compels it to devour any creature which crosses its path. It is vicious and unrelenting, and will pursue its prey for many miles unless gravely injured. The more it devours, the more its hunger grows. Some say its belly is an ever burning furnace whose fires never die. With every victim devoured, it grows in proportion to its meal. Unlike ghouls, they prefer hunting their prey instead of feeding on dead bodies. They are agile, have powerful teeth and claws and can heal by resting inside their forest. And as you may have noticed already, the wendigo can soak an incredible amount of damage. It is an especially dangerous monster to deal with, owing to the fact that it once used to be a human.”

Ryder’s words sent a shiver down David’s spine. He couldn’t believe that a human was capable of being transformed into such a terrible monster.

Ryder looked him in the eye and continued, “Not all monsters are created the same way. There are two ways in which a human might become a wendigo. The first is being cursed or possessed by a spirit of the forest for causing intentional harm to the creatures of the woods. And the second way is by choice. Ms. Chase, would you mind describing the second process.”

Vanessa put her glass down on the table and continued from where Ryder had left off. “A man or a woman may become a wendigo due to deliberate cannibalism. When a human continues feeding on human flesh and blood for an extended period of time, he/she develops a form of psychosis and becomes susceptible to turning. If that person persists with his/her habit, they are transformed into a wendigo, a creature whose hunger is insatiable. Once transformed into a wendigo, the creature loses all semblance of humanity and forgets everything about its past life.”

“So how do we kill it?” David asked.

“In order to kill a wendigo you must first find out how it was created. If it was a human cursed by a woodland spirit, then it can be cured by lifting the curse. But if the person transformed into a wendigo by choice, you have to shoot it in its 3 hearts in order to kill it.”

“But first, we need to track it down and that’s not going to be easy,” Vanessa reminded.

“Ms. Chase is correct. Hunting a wendigo inside its own territory is a perilous task. Only Reapers with years of experience have managed to pull it off,” Ryder added.

“There have been others?” David’s curiosity had suddenly been aroused. “Are there other Reapers in New York?”

“It’s just you. There are only 2 other Reapers in this country and they don’t stay in the same city for too long. For now, you need to focus on your current goal.”

David nodded in agreement. “I am ready to take down the wendigo. Last time, it caught me off guard but I won’t repeat my mistakes.”

“For you sake, I really hope you don’t,” Vanessa sneered.

“You will not need to save my ass this time. I am going to be prepared this time,” he replied. “We need to reach the graveyard by noon. Tracking it down will be much easier during the daylight hours.”

“It’s settled then. You 2 have your work cut out for you,” Ryder concluded.

Soon the dinner bell rang and the last meal of the day was served. David didn’t go back to sleep that night. Instead, he picked up the book titled, ‘A compendium of monsters’ and began searching for more information about the wendigo.

The following morning, as Vanessa and David sat down for breakfast; they were informed by Marianne that Ryder had been called away at dawn by a close friend. He was on his way to Philadelphia to attend a funeral.

“And when will he be returning?” Vanessa enquired.

To which the old woman replied, “He didn’t mention that, but he asked you to stay with us till he returned.”

Ryder often used to travel throughout the country for his so called ‘social visits’. He was well connected with the people who mattered and had a sufficient degree of social influence. During the past 3 months he had been pulling all strings to obtain a list of major crimes in the different cities around New York. He had a hunch that the sudden increase in crime rates and unsolved cases was linked to some darker cause. Vanessa knew that he was trying to connect the dots but so far they had no leads to pursue. One thing however, was crystal clear; the increase in monster attacks and cases of possession was no coincidence. It all hinted towards a demonic influence.

Vanessa and David left the house by 10 and drove to the same local graveyard. It was a pleasant afternoon and a mellow breeze was blowing across the desolate road. The adjoining woods were bordered by a disjointed façade of Silver Maple trees whose outstretched boughs shaded the little Pin Oaks growing under its shadow. Sunlight only filtered through the tiny gaps in the leafy clusters, allowing shafts of bright light to pierce the dense foliage at regular intervals.

As David stepped out of the car, he thought he heard a clawing noise in the distance. He pulled out his gun and quietly listened to the various sounds coming from deep within the woods. Immediately something caught his attention.

“I can hear its howl. The wendigo must be close!”